Enrollment, And Costs, On The Rise

November 22, 1994|By SHERMAN TARR; Courant Correspondent

HEBRON — With 85 more students expected at RHAM Middle and High schools next fall, school administrators are recommending the addition of two modular classrooms and the hiring of seven full- time teachers plus an assistant principal at a total cost of $496,911.

Several members of the Regional District 8 board serving Andover, Hebron and Marlborough asked that other options be studied, such as double sessions or flexible sessions, or building a new school. Increasing class sizes and cutting programs were options presented but not recommended by school administrators.

According to figures given to the RHAM school board Monday night by Assistant Superintendent Michael Reilly, a three-year lease of two 900-square-foot modular classrooms would cost $90,720 a year, plus $41,840 for installation. Adding the equivalent of two more teachers at the middle school would cost $73,390, and several program improvements and a half-time secretary would cost another $31,056.

Not included in Reilly's total was $72,000 for a 90-foot-long corridor connecting the modular classrooms to the middle school.

The middle school, which has 463 students, is expected to have 481 students by 1994-95. Principal Kristina Elias said the school is now at a 95 percent utilization rate, and it has been forced to teach nine foreign language sessions at the high school.

RHAM High School's enrollment of 698 students is expected to increase to 765 next fall, meaning that the middle school classes will have to leave.

``I defy you to find a space or nook or cranny we're not using,'' Reilly said.

It would cost a total of $259,905 to add a full-time high school vice principal, at an expected salary of $76,606, as well as the equivalent of 4.2 full-time teachers at $158,875 and program improvements and a half-time secretary. Reilly said all this was needed to meet the needs of a growing student body.

Possible savings were outlined by Special Education Coordinator Kathleen Spence, who suggested placing two special needs students in a small, self-contained classroom at the high school next year. These two students now attend a program at Eastconn in Columbia at a total cost in tuition and transportation of $80,160. By educating them within the district, Spence said the cost would drop to $41,871. Also, the in- district classroom could handle as many as eight students, if needed.